IPECAC ANNOUNCE NEW RELEASES FROM TOMAHAWK, THE MELVINS AND PHILM1st March 2012

PHILM

Ipecac have revealed a superb schedule of new releases that are coming your way this spring. From label stalwarts to new additions to the family, there is undoubtedly plenty to look forward to.

First up, the experimental alternative-rock supergroup that is Tomahawk will be releasing a very special and luxurious 3xLP retrospective entitled 'Eponymous To Anonymous' for Record Store Day 2012. The compilation will be limited to 5000 copies worldwide and is the first time ever that the albums will be available on vinyl. With the current line up comprising Duane Denison (guitar), Trevor Dunn (bass), Mike Patton (vocals) and John Stainer (drums) we can expect a brand new record from Tomahawk in the summer.
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The Melvins will release a brand new studio album with the delightful title 'Freak Puke' on June 4. Nothing ever stays entirely in one place very long around the Melvins, and the constantly evolving underground hard rock geniuses have undergone a temporary lineup and name change for the recording of Freak Puke. While their last three albums featured a two-drummer, four-piece roster augmented by Big Business members Jared Warren and Coady Willis, the new record finds the group in a more familiar three-piece setting.

Founding guitarist/singer Buzz Osbourne and his longtime drumming partner Dale Crover will be joined by bassist Trevor Dunn for this record, and the trio will operate under the name Melvins Lite. The Melvins Lite lineup is in addition to, not replacing, the four-piece version of the band. As usual over the years, if you're looking for hard information on the group, the very last place on earth you should visit is the band's admittedly awesome official website.

PHILM, the Los Angeles power trio featuring Slayer's Dave Lombardo, War's Pancho Tomaselli and Gerry Nestler of Civil Defiance, have signed to Ipecac Recordings and will release their debut album, Harmonic, on May 14.

"When people hear about my involvement in PHILM, they automatically assume that it will compare to Slayer's sound," explains Lombardo. "They couldn't be more different. I have scaled down my drum set to a four-piece, reminiscent of the drummers from the late 60s that influenced me. Each song is unique in itself, I like to refer to it as 'rhythmic emotion'.

"It's almost like taking all the heavy songs of the 60s and bringing that era to a modern plateau, then blending them with the modern trance and psychedelic sounds of today.

"We decided to record 'Harmonic' in the intimate setting of a home, with various vintage recording equipment. The music was written collectively in an improvisational manner, unlike the majority of recordings I've done before. This was very important given this is my first recording where I'm carrying the title of Producer and performer.

"The album achieves a dense, unholy convergence of tones and discords. We also touch on haunting, desolate, ambient sounds. Our music tends to be written in a manner where we never know the outcome until we listen back to what we recorded. A Harmonic journey."

A highly anticipated release, PHILM officially took form in late 2010 with a handful of tour dates and an early four-song demo that quickly began to make the rounds of in-the-know music critics. Noisecreep said the band "has crafted a crunchy, thrashy, yet thoroughly unclassifiable sound" and the OC Weekly said of the trio: "PHILM's ability to melt down Metal influences and mix them with the elements of funk, ambient jazz and punk... is potent and has left audiences wondering how so much noise could emanating from just three musicians."